How long does it take to build an industrial property in the SEE region?

Two main factors impact the timing needed to build an industrial property and are country specific: land availability and the length of the construction process.

Land availability

Slovenia

In Slovenia in 2022, there were a total of 6,611 transactions with construction land and the total area sold was 695 hectares. Land for industrial developments participated in the total number of transactions with 6% and in the total area with 16% meaning there were almost 400 sales of industrial land with the total area of 111 hectares. The average size of the industrial plot transacted was 2,800 sq. m.

Looking into the database of transacted land sales and searching for sales of construction land bigger than 10,000 sq. m in 2022 resulted in only 17 transactions. Spreading the search to date added 3 more. This means that there were only 20 transactions with large construction land plots in Slovenia in the past 18 months.

Land availability is Slovenia is very low and it takes in average 12 months but could be even longer to acquire the appropriate land.

Croatia

In Croatia the latest published data is for 2021 and the total number of transactions with construction land was 23,633 at the median size of 600 sq. m. with only 5% of the transactions related to plots larger than 4,400 sq. m.

Looking into the database of transacted land sales and searching for sales of construction land bigger than 10,000 sq. m in 2022 resulted with over 400 sales and if the search in narrowed to land for industrial use, we get down to 62 transactions.

Land availability in Croatia is medium and it takes in average 9 months to acquire appropriate land.

Serbia

In Serbia in 2022 there were a total of 32,515 transactions of construction land and 4% were larger than 10,000 sq. m meaning that there were over 1,300 transactions with large construction land plots.

Serbia has high land availability, and the land can be acquired in 6 months or even less.

Construction permit process

To estimate the construction process I used the doing business data from 2019 (latest available). The below data relate to all procedures needed to start construction including the design of the building and of the utilities connections.

Slovenia

Based on this report, there are 17 procedures needed to get the construction permit, it takes almost 250 days and the cost is at 2% of the warehouse value. Slovenia was ranked 119 from 166 countries.

It takes 9 months to complete the design and get the construction permit on the selected land plot.

Croatia

In Croatia there was a total of 22 procedures needed which took almost 150 days and cost almost 10% of the warehouse value. Total rank was 150.

It takes 5 months to complete the design and get the construction permit on the selected land plot.

Serbia

Serbia did best with only 11 procedures and 100 days at the cost of below 2% of the warehouse value. The total rank was an excellent 9.

It takes 3 months to complete the design and get the construction permit on the selected land plot.

Construction

The construction process itself is similar in all countries and takes between 9 and 12 months depending on the complexity of the property.

Conclusion

Ideal time to start planning for your next industrial property before the desired move in date for each country:

Slovenia – 2.5 to 3 years

Croatia – 2 to 2.5 years

Serbia – 1.5 to 2 years

If you are considering expanding or relocating your property and want to know more about the process, reach out, we have a lot of experience in guiding clients through developments like yours.?